So here I am 6 days past my due date. I started my maternity leave last Monday so I’ve had the whole week to experience some real “dirt” on pregnancy. This past week has certainly been an experience and quite frankly, emotionally exhausting. My husband and I are SO ready to be parents and meet this little guy and every morning that we wake up still pregnant, is a moment where disappointment floods our minds, and we struggle to not let the situation get the best of us.

The last appointment I had was on my due date and I still had not dilated at all and the baby wasn’t engaged. The doctor and my husband and I had to have the “induction conversation” and I was not mentally prepared. Being induced is something that I REALLY do not want to happen. And, to not even be dilated at all on my due date was also something I didn’t want to have happen. Without a ripe cervix, I found it hard to be hopeful for anything to happen soon. So, I left the office in tears and a scheduled induction for 9 days passed my due date. I think I was so upset because I want to labor and give birth naturally, without intervention. The idea of being at home for half of the time was also something I have been looking forward to. But, to be induced with pitocin, means I’ll be in the hospital from the start, attached to an I.V. and continuously monitored. Fears of one intervention leading to more and more interventions scares the crap out of me and a c-section scares me even more. My hormones are heightened right now and with all of the excitement, anticipation, disappointment and fear swimming around in my head, makes each day that I wake up still pregnant very tough.

So, here I type 6 days passed my due date with our next doctor’s appointment less than 21 hours away. I can tell you that I was really hoping not to get to this point. I was hoping that I would spontaneously go into labor and I wouldn’t have to have another conversation about being induced. But, I am here facing the reality of what could happen. Instead of being an emotional wreck, depressed because things haven’t gone as I had planned in my head and having what I call “pre-partum depression,” I have chosen to take another route. I know that being stressed and anxious is not good for me. I have managed to relax this past week with a lot of naps, trips to the pool, frequent walks and lunches and dinners with friends and family. It has been nice not being at work and I’m glad I took this past week off. My husband and I have both received numerous phone calls from eager friends and family asking the dreaded question, “So? Have you had the baby yet?” Initially, I didn’t answer many of the calls because having to explain and admit that the baby wasn’t even close to coming and that we really wish the circumstances were different was just too hard. All I really wanted to say was, “Stop freaking asking because if there was news, you would hear about it and asking me all the time isn’t going to change things!” But, everyone is excited for us and just wants to know what’s going on and in reality, I would be the same way if someone I cared for was about to have a baby. So, now I just answer the phone with a smile and make some joke about how this baby is way too cozy and teaching me a life lesson on patience.

The other thing that has helped me cope with all this waiting, are the natural induction theories. Honestly, they are hilarious. Whenever someone hears that we are “overdue” they always chime in with some “proved to work” method of making that baby come and I’ve agreed to try them all. I’ve tried the usual ones, nipple stimulation, sex and going on lots of walks. I’ve also tried spicy foods, porkchops, pineapple (supposed to ripen the cervix), labor cake (see recipe below) and castor oil. The castor oil was probably the most extreme as it makes you have diarrhea and the act of emptying out your bowels is somehow supposed to trigger your uterus to also “empty out.” I definitely cleaned out my bowels but unfortunately did so, without one contraction following suit. I’ve put out a challenge to everyone I know, tell me your “go into labor” tricks and I’ll refute them all. I think the only one left is acupuncture and at this point, I don’t think I’m going to go there. It’s just going to be more money down the drain. This baby just isn’t ready.

I’ll try to fill everyone in after our doctor’s appointment tomorrow. He’s going to do some tests which include a fetal stress test, an ultrasound to check out the baby and gauge the fluid level. If everything looks normal, I may beg for a few more days to stall the induction. If we do end up having to be induced, then I will accept it and know that in the end, all that really matters is that I have a healthy baby. I’m still going to try to do a labor without pain medication, but our plans will be flexible.

Labor Cake Recipe (even without the promised contractions, it was pretty damn delicious!)

1 box of devil’s food cake mix

i box of chocolate instant pudding mix

1 cup of sour cream

1 bag of chocolate chip morsels.

1. Make devils’s food cake according to the box and add the next three ingredients. Cook in a 9×13 pan for about 15-25 minutes longer than it says to. I was told after eating the cake (not the whole thing) I would go into labor 2 days later. Ha! But, good luck to anyone else that tries it.

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THANK YOU! I’m on day 5 past my due date and I decided the only way I am going to get through this sanely is to find some empathetic voices. This is my 3rd, the first was 9 days past my due date, the 2nd 6 days early. It does not get any easier because I have been through it before.